The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has appealed to international financial institutions to direct more of their investments into Ghana’s agriculture.
Such support, he said, would help improve productivity, reduce post-harvest losses and ensure food sustainability in the country.
The Vice-President made the appeal when a delegation from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), led by its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms Elizabeth L. Littlefield, called on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
The OPIC is a development finance institution of the United States Government.
The delegation was in the country to inspect OPIC-financed projects at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region and the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in the Greater Accra Region.
Ms Littlefield was appointed by President Barack Obama as the CEO of OPIC, which operates in 105 countries and manages a $16-bn portfolio to support private investment in sustainable economic development, particularly in the world’s poorest countries.
Under Littlefield’s leadership, OPIC’s annual commitments to renewable resources projects have grown 10-fold in three years and generated more revenue for the federal budget.
Mr Amissah-Arthur lauded the role of the private sector in Ghana’s economic development, saying, “Our economy is evolving, with the private sector playing a very significant role.”
He thanked the group for its support for the country, particularly its attention to the rural poor and the marginalised.
Responding, Ms Littlefield said Africa had become the largest in the investment portfolio of OPIC in the areas of financing, loan advancement and guarantees.
Support to Ghana’s economy
She said OPIC had so far invested $840 million in projects in the country, adding that “our presence here is to win American investors”.
She announced plans by OPIC to double investment in the next few years.
Ms Littlefield said $840 million had been invested in the water sector, as well as in rice and meat production.